Hope in Crisis

Donald Trump finds job security in the chaos and divisions he stokes. Our country is being ripped apart at the seams. Torn asunder by anger and rage. In the presence of fear people need hope to light the way.

Where is our RFK who on the eve of the horrific assassination of MLK Jr addressed the crowds with words of empathy, understanding and reassurance? Compare the words below with those tweeted tonight by our so called President and ask yourself, “is this what it means to be great again?”

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it’s perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black — considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible — you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.

We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization — black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love…

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.

So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King — yeah, it’s true — but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love — a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.

We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We’ve had difficult times in the past, but we — and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it’s not the end of disorder.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land….. -RFK, April 4,1968

Fish Filet

As the “Mooch” says, “the fish stinks from the head.” So let’s wrap this impeachment inquiry up and start there. The time for impeachment is long past.

Donald Trump is inherently unfit to lead a democratic republic. This isn’t a hot take. It’s no secret he serves only himself and the almighty dollar. That his morality bends to justify whatever decision, in that moment, will advance his own self interest. Yet those are just symptoms of what makes him uniquely unfit to hold public office.

The fact is Donald Trump has never worked for anyone other than himself. He has no concept of what it means to work for the common good. His whole life spent negotiating solely for himself. Motivated only by unbridled greed and the need to appease a small group of loyal investors with a healthy return on investments.

The very office of the Presidency. That it serves, “we, the people.” That its closest advisors, the Cabinet, swear an oath to the Constitution, not a person. These are foreign concepts to our Comrade in Chief. He is hardwired to think of his role as a leader in binary terms. His whole worldview rooted In a transactional us verse them paradigm. Every deal unique but each having a winner and loser.

The concept of transparency is anathema to the art of the deal where information is power. Intimidation and braggadocio assets. Lies, deceit and misrepresentation the keys to victory; transparency a weakness. Truth has no business in real estate or casinos, only the appearance of truth matters.

This is the ethos our dear leader lives by. There is no such thing as public service in his world. Rules, traditions, and precedent matters not as the man himself cannot be changed. It’s time to drain this cesspool of criminals and corrupt enablers and filet the entirety of the Raptureheads, Russia enabled military hawks and racist status dependent deplorables that comprise the entirety of today’s GOP.

“We, the people” know Trump plays Russian roulette with our republic and poses a clear and present danger to the American dream. Let’s once and for all decapitate this piranha and remove him from office so we can once and for all make America great again. Sanitize this country of the stench that emanates from this golden calf and all he touches. Render his legacy “moot” and reclaim the words of Lady Liberty

Scared Schiffless

Initiation of an impeachment inquiry is not a political decision. A sitting President has torn the Constitution into shreds and sent the scraps to our immigrant camps so the inhabitants no longer have excuse to complain about the lack of toilet paper and menstrual pads.

Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats must demonstrate to the world that America remains on the side of morality, law and order. They must seize the daily headlines and shine light on all of the crimes and corruption that trickle down from the caravan of greedy oligarchs, religious fundamentalist and white supremacists that comprise the whole of today’s GOP.

The Democrats need to choke the oxygen that feeds this cabal. Take control of the narrative and sensationalize the crap out of an impeachment inquiry. Make it a spectacle each and every day. The purpose is not conviction, heck the majority of the Senate jury, are defendants in the inquiry; architects of the entire coup. The purpose is transparency.

The only way to defeat a bully is to face it head on and let the world see how weak it really is. To strip it of power you must first publicly expose the naked emperor so the world sees its insecurities. Laughs at its own naïveté and moves on to better things

Carpe Diem

Initiation of an impeachment inquiry should not be a political decision. A sitting President has torn the Constitution into shreds. Sent the scraps to our immigrant camps so the inhabitants no longer have excuse to complain about the lack of toilet paper and menstrual pads.

Nancy Pelosi must demonstrate to the world that America remains on the side of morality, law and order. She must seize the daily headlines and shine light on all of the crimes and corruption that trickle down from the caravan of greedy oligarchs, religious fundamentalist and white supremacists that comprise the whole of today’s GOP.

The Democrats need to choke the oxygen that feeds this cabal. Take control of the narrative and sensationalize the crap out of impeachment inquiry. Make it a spectacle each and every day. The purpose is not conviction, heck the majority of the Senate jury, are defendants in the inquiry; architects of the entire coup.

The only way to defeat a bully is to face it head on and let the world see how weak it really is. To strip it of power you must first publicly expose the naked emperor so the world sees its insecurities. Laughs at its own naïveté and moves on to better things #HistoryHasItsEyesOnYou

The Chosen One

Wake up people! He thinks he’s the chosen one because he’s literally told that by his closest advisors everyday.

Pence, Barr, Pompeo, Mulvaney…

These are the names Americans need to start uttering aloud each night alongside that of our Dear Leader’s. It’s easy to get lost in the tweet storms and sound bites but Donald Trump is not the lone con man of America’s nightmares. In fact he’s hardly capable of running a con. Donald Trump is very clear and straightforward with his agenda. He cares about the advancement of one issue and one issue only; Donald Trump.

It’s what makes Trump the perfect mark and tool for those who desire far more than mass adoration and riches. Trump was chosen. Chosen to serve as the perfect golden calf for use by those who seek eternal salvation and a place within the kingdom of God, but lack the influence or means to otherwise get there.

Pence, Barr, Pompeo, Mulvaney…

This unholy trinity of self avowed evangelical so-called Christian dispensationalists. Americans need to educate themselves on what these men actually believe in. Informed consent is a necessity of a functioning democratic republic and in this case will lead one to conclude that the men who sit in current control of America’s foreign and domestic policy do not share the values or beliefs of the majority of Americans. That the Vice President, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and Chief of Staff to the President of America all believe they serve god before country, constitution or man.

Do some research on the topic and you will find that each believe there primary purpose on Earth is to serve God by paving the way for the Rapture. This is not hyperbole. The current leaders of America stated goal is to create the preconditions for a holy war through Jerusalem that will ultimately lead to the Second Coming and Armageddon.

Of course the Rapture don’t come easy. To ensure America’s status as the apple in the lord’s eye requires a strict Biblical interpretation of acceptable behavior. Thus the need to legislate a moral code and standards of behaviors and enforce it with devout judicial appointees.

It’s absurd to think this a reality but it contextualizes so many of the arbitrary decisions made by this administration from their hardline stance against Iran to the stoking of religious and racial divisions internationally and here ashore.

Americans keep comparing this caravan of criminals to Hitler and the Nazi takeover of a free German. Perhaps the more apt comparison is the Taliban and their takeover of a exhausted, fragmented and divided once free Afghani population

The American Story

Donald Trump has a gift. His natural talent is playing a character conceived of by men smarter then he. His ability to play a part; to shape perception to match a false reality, is extraordinary.

Take a look at The Apprentice where he played a successful businessman with little tolerance for incompetence. Compare that with the reality of the time. By the end of 2008 Don the Con had filed his 6th bankruptcy and was best described as a failed businessman. Mocked in tabloid media as a man so poor at business that he literally bankrupted multiple casinos and real estate conglomerates at the height of the economy and subsequently ordered to turnover his majority share of multiple conglomerates. They say the house never loses, unless its name is Trump. Yet there he sat in his makeshift boardroom the epitome of success.

Nothing that comes out of our so called President’s mouth or twitter feed should be trusted. Each tweet, each sound bite is nothing more than a means to an end. Even his more awful positions; the overt dog whistles and Nazi sympathizing sound bites are manufactured. The quid pro quo of the art of the deal.

As a native New Yorker myself let me tell you that Donald Trump could give two fucks about the “beauty” of Confederate statues. Look at his statements from the campaign trail if you don’t believe me. Check out the decor of his country clubs. I have no doubt the man is biased and ignorant in his views but a devout Christian white supremacist he is not.

The fact of the matter is Donald Trump holds no concrete views or beliefs. That he now plays a populist conservative on tv (and has since 2008) is no coincidence and suggests something far more sinister afoot than a simple racist President. It indicates that Trump himself is all part of someone else’s long game. A necessity to advance the next storyline and build suspense to the finale. Keep the water cooler talk going as the producers carefully select and edit the storylines to follow.

It’s past time American lose our obsession with scripted reality and get back to actual reality. That we wake up and stop reacting to the newest scandal being scripted by this White House. Let’s tune back into the American story instead. The one piloted by our founding fathers nearly 250 years ago.

It’s a story inspired by the dreams of our founding fathers and is pitched on hope, equality, opportunity, freedom. A story that provides a blueprint on how to build a better and more just future. A story rooted in resistance to intolerance and hate. As a nation we must understand that story is now in danger of cancellation. Only a coordinated campaign by “we, the people” will guarantee its renewal

Sending Out An S.O.S.

I’m not sure if it’s willful blindness, cowardice or complicitness but Americans, and more importantly our Democratic and opposition leaders need to wake up to a simple fact.

The American system of checks and balances is dead. The constitutional crisis is here.

Newsflash The GOP control the White House, the Senate and the Supreme Court!

You have zero chance of getting answers from the caravan of corrupt criminals and enablers who are already in control and occupy the three most powerful arms of the US government. Perhaps we’ve been too busy paying attention to the distractor in Chief to realize that an entire caste system has been legislated into existence.

More troubling is the entire judiciary has been transformed to enforce the values of white Christian America long past the point demographics would have otherwise allowed. To interpret “we, the people” to include JP Morgan, Halliburton, Monsanto, Bain, Amway and the Koch Brothers; but not JP Hernandez, Halil el Burtun, Juan Santos, LeBain Johnson, Anyone Gay, or the Koch Sisters.

All this time we spend focused on Donald Trump. Countless hours spent reporting on his every outrageous move, sound bite, and tweet. Wake up and smell the coffee! The man himself is not the story. He’s a means to an end, a pawn, a hairy arm to distract you fools. To give you something to talk about. Why on earth do you think nobody in the GOP will hold him to account?!?!.

To date, the McConnell led Senate has confirmed 146 Article III judges nominated by a man who REMAINS an active target of a counterintelligence investigation. This includes 44 judges to the US Court of Appeals and 99 judges to the District Courts, and 2 to Associate Justices to the US Supreme Court.

The majority of these mostly white men will be the ones to determine the limits of Executive Privilege and the House Democrat investigative reach. Do you trust them to stop this bloodless coup?

Rather than face this truth Democrat leaders march on and inspire us to vote Blue in 2020. They choose to take us down the path of traditional checks and balances, blind to the fact an unconventional threat looms. They bellow that our participation in the political process is the last great hope to restore our democracy! To remove the openly corrupt leader from our nation’s highest office and restore common decency!

Meanwhile, Rome burns. This isn’t a political fight. There is no political opposition only a consolidated faction of self interested criminals who seek to control the future of the greatest nation on Earth. To think our participation in the suspect and possibly rigged electoral system which placed the inept and unpopular buffoon into office in the first place is the key to his removal, ridiculous.

Does anyone think the way to remove a corrupt authoritarian from office is to vote him out in a free and fair election that he controls? In the history of the world has a single free and fair election been lost by an incumbent authoritarian in control of that country’s executive branch, and with absolute and penultimate legislative and judicial support behind them as well?

Seeing that Deranged Donald also knows a criminal indictment awaits him upon his return to civilian life and me thinks the Democrats have a better chance of surviving a round of Russian roulette than they do of taking back the White House.

It’s time to get our heads out of our asses and steer this ship away from the iceberg. If our current captains can’t do it than perhaps we need to look beyond the control tower for some help

Debbie Downer

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. It’s not really my style to be Debbie Downer….but here’s the thing. I bit my tongue for too long. I stayed quiet for months hoping against hope that I was wrong.

I started this blog with the following words,

“I’ve never used Facebook as a platform before but consider me an alarmist. I believe we all have a responsibility to speak out. The only thing I ever learned in Hebrew school was “never forget,” and I haven’t.

Well I silenced my alarm for a bit. “Who knows, maybe Election Night results will surprise me,” I’d optimistically think. Maybe, to paraphrase Celebrity Apprentice winner Bret Michaels, America would “Give me something to believe in….”,

but alas, it’s past time I blare again. There were no surprises. Absolutely nothing gained that I could suddenly “believe in.” No sudden shift in power that indicates accountability is coming for our Comrade in Chief and the caravan of corruption hiding in his shadow. In fact it’s quite the opposite.

Instead we get the worst result possible. Exactly what an inspiring tyrant would desire. Straight out of the “Rising Dictator” playbook, Chapter 3; page nein

at the first public referendum, create the perception of fairness. Hand the opposition the appearance of power, without giving them any real authority. Allow the minority party to win the lowest chamber of the people’s Congress, but be sure to strengthen your hold on the upper Chamber.

In other words, create the perception of a BlueWave, yet somehow your closest allies survive, your loyalest sycophants squeak by.

As the Democratic leaders hit the airwaves to claim victory in gerrymandered districts; you somehow over perform in the Statewide and highest profile races. Your biggest rivals vanquished. The uniters capable of seizing their own headline, the opposition leaders worth following, capable of coalescing allies, the Betos, Gillums and Abrams, relegated to the sidelines.

Appease the masses for a bit. The so called resistance. Restore their hope in democracy for a minute while you simultaneously ostracize the conspiracy theorists and doomsayers from the previously likeminded. Push the most progressive towards the margin. Lessen their influence.

All the while you create the perfect foil onto whom you blame the forthcoming domestic issues. Of course you stonewall all legitimate efforts to investigate you. Let them litigate your claims of “executive privilege” and evidentiary privilege in the courts you already stacked. Pretend to play nice and have Professor Dershowitz plead your case on FoxNews. Regardless, the worst that can happen is they escalate the matter to the very Senate you just strengthened your hold on.

Ask yourself this?

How difficult will it be to convince the public that Nancy Pelosi is the one who is out of touch with the average American?

The answer takes you right up to Chapter 4; the Reichstag Fire

#WinterIsComing #WeNeedALeader